Wembley’s Mane Attraction

Everyone at Wembley was full of pride at the weekend as the stadium’s latest attraction was unveiled.

Those who walk through level 2 of the national stadium’s corporate area will be given reason to paws with two impressive lions now adorning the concourse.

The two big cats are the creation of artist Faith Bebbington and are entirely made from reclaimed Wembley waste.

She was asked to make the lions by the FA Group and Veolia Environment Services to celebrate Wembley’s achievements in resource management and to remind staff, partners and visitors of the importance of re-using our valuable resources.

The roar materials for the lions were clawed together from stadium waste such as cardboard, plastic cups and even broken plastic seats.

Faith’s brave creations add to the recycled stainless steel lion created by Artist Michael Turner that is currently guarding the Stadium and fittingly brings Wembley’s count to three lions.

Faith told us the tail of how this pair of prowling cats came into being.

“I loved the challenge of using a load of rubbish to make something lovely,” she told WembleyStadium.com.

“My kids got sick of me watching Westerns as I’d spend hours in front of the tele making the fur.

“I reckon the pair took me about three months all told but now, seeing them in Wembley Stadium, makes all those hours of tedious work worth it.”

“I feel really proud and I just want plenty of people to see them.”

Simon Smith, Wembley Stadium Services Associate Director was also wild about the lions and says they are a symbol of what the national stadium is trying to achieve.

“Environmental improvement continues to be a priority for The FA Group,” he told us.

“The fantastic lions by Faith Bebbington have given a second life to valuable resources and will take pride of place in our world-class Stadium.”

The FA Group Green Team is proud that Wembley, the home of The FA, has been a ‘zero waste to landfill’ venue since 2010 and has reached event-day recycling rates of 86%, with all remaining waste sent to a ‘waste to energy’ plant where energy is returned to the National Grid.

The waste used for the lions was reclaimed by Wembley waste management partners Veolia Environment to showcase that what is considered to be ‘waste’ – damaged items and obsolete stock – is actually a valuable resource that can be re-purposed into a piece of art.